Women's Center recognizes contributors for 1998
1998 Community Woman of the Year:
Constance D. Anderson
Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 29 - April 23, 1998
The Women's Center at Virginia Tech has recognized Connie Anderson as the 1998 Community Woman of the Year.
Anderson was employed for over 40 years as a National Science Foundation-funded university research assistant at four universities, with 26 years at Virginia Tech.
Throughout her employment history she has trained and mentored undergraduate and graduate students, female and male, in science-related disciplines. Anderson was the membership chair and the treasurer of the Virginia Chapter of the Association for Women in Science, and has served as a member of ACS Council Committee for Technician Activities
She has earned her VIP status from the American Chemical Society for her public outreach efforts in K-12 education. Anderson is president of the American Association of University Women Blacksburg Area Branch. She is active in the branch's Annual Educational Equity Conference, and is the Newsletter and Yearbook editor, listserv co-owner, and web-site editor.
She is also working with Provost Peggy Meszaros' Women in Science and Engineering Network to help develop a Virginia Tech Women's Web.
1998 Staff Woman of the Year Award: Teresa Quesinberry
The recipient of this year's Women's Center Staff Woman of the Year Award is Teresa Quesinberry. Quesinberry is an activist in both her personal and professional roles. She has served as a role model and has helped to provide leadership and training opportunities for other women under her supervision.
Quesinberry played a central role in the recent successful completion of the University Counseling Center's rigorous self-study for the accreditation of the internship program by the American Psychological Association. She is the co-founder of the Office Managers' Development Group formed in 1996. In this role, Quesinberry co-wrote a proposal seeking professional development specifically for office managers. The purpose of this program is to provide members with a way to exchange ideas and to develop their skills and abilities.
She is now an active member of this group and serves as a team leader providing additional guidance, advice, and structure to this program.
1998 Faculty Woman of the Year: Lisa Brone
The 1998 Women's Center Faculty Woman of the Year Award recipient is Lisa Brone. This is Brone's second year as a staff physician at the University Health Center and as a team physician in the Athletic Department.
Brone has emerged as a leading activist both on campus and in the community. Through her efforts, Brone has raised the awareness of the severity and prevalence of eating disorders among college-age women and the escalated risks of women who participate in sports.
Brone has successfully organized a collaborative eating-disorder committee among the University Health Center and the Counseling Center, the first of its kind in the history of Virginia Tech. She initiated an eating-disorder awareness campaign within the Athletic Department that resulted in the department's decision to incorporate a new policy for dealing with eating disorders among the athletes. Additionally, she is one of the founding committee members of the Eating Disorder Task Force which operates in conjunction with the Women's Center.
Brone is credited as the motivating force behind the programming in recognition of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, the first time this week has been recognized on the Virginia Tech campus.
1998 Student Activist Award: Lenette D. Hillian
The recipient of the 1998 Women's Center Student Activist Award is Lenette Hillian. Hillian is a founding member of the Black Female Coalition, and was instrumental in helping to develop the missions and goals of the organization.
She has been a key to the Black Female Coalition's ability to build liaisons with other women's student organizations and black student organizations. She has facilitated several discussions on feminism, womanism, and activism for the organization, and continues to help guide the Black Female Coalition to ensure its growth and activist objectives.
She has been an active member of the Women's Month Committee for the past two years and assisted in organizing the program of events for several of the featured speakers of 1997's Women's Month. This year, she was primarily responsible for the organizing and fundraising necessary for Patricia Hill Collin's visit.
Hillian has a strong interest in women's development and advancement, both for herself and her peers. And with her focus and perseverance, she continues to give unselfishly to the Virginia Tech women's community. Hillian has maintained the ideal of excellence in academics, including achieving the Dean's List several times.
Exemplary Activist Award: Dianna Benton
This year, the Women's Center presented a special award. This award, the Exemplary Activist Award, was presented to Dianna Benton, an individual who, for the past 10 years as a student, community member, and a Virginia Tech employee, has worked on local and national issues concerning women, sexism, racism, homophobia, and health.
As an undergraduate at Tech, Benton was a key student leader and activist in the campus women's community. She was an officer of the Women's Undergraduate Network, currently known as Womanspace, which is the lead organization in orchestrating Take Back the Night.
Benton was the coordinator of Women's Month in 1994, 1995, and 1996. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the Women's Center at Virginia Tech, and is chair of the Public Relations Subcommittee. Recently, Benton has worked as a research associate for the self study. She will work with the Provost's Office in support of the computer requirement implementation, and with David Ford on additional projects with the Provost's Office.